COLORADO: HITTING: This offense still has trouble scoring outside of Coors Field, posting the second-fewest road runs in the majors (3.65 per game). SS TROY TULOWITZKI doesn't need the thin air though, posting an .881 OPS on the road. He led Colorado with a .302 BA, 30 HR, 105 RBI. OF CARLOS GONZALEZ was bothered by wrist and back injuries last year, but still managed to smack 26 homers with 92 RBI and 92 runs. OF DEXTER FOWLER will bat first or second after a strong .363 OBP. He could score 100 runs if he improved his base stealing (12 SB, 9 CS). OF MICHAEL CUDDYER gets the Coors Field Bump, while TYLER COLVIN settles into the 4th-OF role. Colorado has question marks with its corner infielders. 1B TODD HELTON is 38 with a bad back, and mediocre 3B CHRIS NELSON will start until top prospect NOLAN ARENADO is ready for the big leagues. 2B MARCO SCUTARO carries a louder stick than most two-baggers and C RAMON HERNANDEZ (.788 OPS) is an upgrade over the departed Chris Iannetta. STARTING PITCHING: There are plenty of question marks in Colorado's rotation with Ubaldo Jimenez pitching in the AL and two of its top three starters coming off major injuries. JORGE DE LA ROSA had Tommy John surgery and won't likely return to a big-league mound until June. De La Rosa had a 1.19 WHIP and 52 strikeouts in 59 innings before his injury. JHOULYS CHACIN will be counted on as the rotation's ace and he certainly has the physical tools and array of pitches to live up to this billing if he can trim his 87 walks in 194 innings. Former Baltimore 'ace' JEREMY GUTRHIE threw for 200+ innings in each of his past three seasons, but he's also served up 86 gopher balls in this span. That's not a good sign of things to come in the thin air. JUAN NICASIO took a line drive off the head and broke his C-1 vertebrae in August, but the team amazingly expects him to ready when the season begins. The 25-year-old has great command for such a young hurler. GUILLERMO MOSCOCO fared pretty well as a starter with the A's last year (.209 Opp. BA), but his 4.70 road ERA nearly doubled his 2.42 ERA in Oakland . Lefty DREW POMERANZ, 23, has a wealthy array of pitches and performed admirably in three of his four starts after being called up last season. RELIEF PITCHING: Although he was the team's main set-up man last year, RAFAEL BETANCOURT becomes the Rockies closer with Huston Street out of the picture. After struggling at Coors Field in 2010 (4.99 ERA, 7 HR), he thrived in the thin air last year with a 1.93 ERA, and just 1 HR allowed in 32.2 innings. But he turns 37 in April and is one of the riskier saves men with little closing experience in his career. MATT BELISLE figures to be next in line for saves, notching 70 K and 16 BB at Coors Field since 2010. MATT REYNOLDS is the top lefty in the pen, but his 2011 season was nothing to write home about (4.09 ERA, 10 HR allowed in 50.2 IP).

WASHINGTON: HITTING: The Nats were among the eight worst teams in the majors in runs (3.88 per game), BA (.242), OBP (.309) and OPS (.691). Much of that had to do with the first two spots in the batting order hitting .285 OBP and .283 OBP respectively. OF ROGER BERNADINA (.301 OBP) and SS IAN DESMOND (.298 OBP) were the regular 1-2 hitters in the order. $126 million OF JAYSON WERTH was also to blame, batting .232 with a meager 58 RBI in 561 at-bats. 3B RYAN ZIMMERMAN also missed two months with an abdominal problem and had a down year with 12 HR and 49 RBI in 101 games. But OF MIKE MORSE had a breakout season, leading the Nats in batting (.303), HR (31) and RBI (95). 1B ADAM LaROCHE suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in June, but should be fully healed. Washington is counting on a pair of talented 24-year-olds to contribute a little more in 2B DANNY ESPINOSA (.236 BA, 21 HR) and C WILSON RAMOS (15 HR in 389 AB). STARTING PITCHING: STEPHEN STRASBURG is back fully healed from Tommy John surgery, but will reportedly be limited to 160 innings in 2012. That's still enough time to strike out 150 batters and win a dozen games though. In sending four quality prospects to Oakland, the Nats paid a huge price for GIO GONZALEZ. They hope he can overcome his control issues and become an elite No. 2. Well-traveled EDWIN JACKSON was also brought in to help bolster the rotation. He joins his sixth different club since 2008, but Jackson is just 28 years old and was serviceable after being traded to St. Louis last year (5-2, 3.58 ERA). JORDAN ZIMMERMANN was in the same boat as Strasburg last year, coming off elbow surgery and limited to 161.1 innings. But in that time, he had a team-best 3.18 ERA and 4.0 K-to-BB ratio (124 K, 31 BB). JOHN LANNAN remains the top lefty in the Nats rotation with a team-high 10 wins in 2011. He dominated left-handed hitters last year (.211 BA, 55 K in 185 AB), but still needs to improve his weak 1.4 K-to-BB ratio (106 K, 76 BB). RELIEF PITCHING: DREW STOREN had a phenomenal first year as a full-time closer, saving 43-of-48 games with a 2.75 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 74 K in 75.1 innings. His role will remain the same in 2012 once he returns from the 15-day DL (elbow) to start the season. Newcomer BRAD LIDGE was limited to 25 innings because of shoulder problems last year, but he appears to be the closer until Storen returns. The Nats have arguably the best set-up man in the game in TYLER CLIPPARD, who led the majors with 38 holds and posted a 1.83 ERA and 0.84 WHIP for the season. He held opponents to a .162 average and fanned 104 batters in 88.1 innings of work. Lefty SEAN BURNETT saw a huge decline in his numbers, as his ERA rose from 2.14 to 3.81 and his WHIP jumped from 1.14 to 1.32. This was mostly due to a diminishing strikeout rate (8.9 to 5.2 last year).

Other than the outcome of his first start off the disabled list, Stephen Strasburg feels good about being back on the mound for the Washington Nationals.

The right-hander looks to build on that outing while trying to help hand the visiting Colorado Rockies a season-high fifth straight defeat Friday night.

Out since May 31 with a strained muscle in his back, Strasburg (3-6, 2.50 ERA) allowed a run and one hit over 82 pitches in five innings of a 2-0 loss to Cleveland on Sunday.

"I felt really good and definitely could have gone for a few more innings, but they didn't want me to," he said. "It was good to be out there after two weeks."

Strasburg, who was 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in three starts before he got hurt at Atlanta, retired eight in a row at one point but also walked four and struck out four Sunday.

"He was a little bit rusty and didn't have his command, but I thought he settled in pretty well," Washington manager Davey Johnson said. "He had a maximum of 80."

The Nationals (36-36) were shut out for the eighth time in that contest. They scored three runs when Strasburg went 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA against the Rockies last season.

Washington has totaled 11 runs and 19 hits to win two in a row following a three-game skid where it recorded six and 22 hits. Adam LaRoche had three hits with two RBIs, Ian Desmond homered for the second straight game and Jordan Zimmermann pitched eight strong innings in Thursday's 5-1 win over Colorado (37-37).

"We need to get ourselves on track and play some consistent ball," LaRoche said. "I don't need to tell you we've been way too streaky."

Desmond, who hit a grand slam in the 11th inning of Wednesday's 6-2 win at Philadelphia, has homered for three of the four hits in his last 26 at-bats.

LaRoche is 6 for 11 in three games after he went 0 for 16 in the previous five. He's hit .326 with nine RBIs in his last 12 contests against the Rockies, who have been outscored 20-6 during their four-game slide.

Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez is 2 for 21 with 12 strikeouts in his last six games versus Washington after going 9 for 15 in his previous four.

The Rockies hope to get back on track behind another strong effort from scheduled starter Tyler Chatwood (4-1, 2.33). The right-hander, who missed his previous turn in the rotation due to a triceps injury, gave up two runs and overcame seven hits and three walks in five innings in Saturday's 10-5 victory over Philadelphia.

"I thought Chat did an outstanding job," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "What I really liked is when he got in trouble, he got the double-play ball.

"I think he's really focused on doing that this year. That's been his approach in those situations and he's been able to get it done."

Chatwood has yielded six runs and no homers over 32 2-3 innings while going 4-1 in his last six starts, a span that included a trip to the minors.